Bi-Partisan Concern

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use fraud or coercion to profit from forcing victims in commercial sex acts or labor services ("Human Trafficking".) It is a market-driven criminal industry that is based on the principles of supply and demand, like drugs or arms trafficking. Many components make children and adults susceptible to human trafficking. Traffickers target vulnerable people for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional issues, economic hardship, lack of safety, or political instability. Unfortunately, victims rarely seek help due to language barriers, fear of the traffickers and law enforcement, or fear of potential consequences. Knowing how to identify signs of human trafficking is the first step in pinpointing victims. Additionally, we can assist victims by modifying criminal policy, receiving more state funds, participating in organizations, and raising awareness.

Imagine knowing that your parents set you up to be raped, just so they can make money. This violence leads to depression and even suicide, making the children feel extremely weak and empty. Weak law enforcement and poverty has driven sex slavery out of hand. A solution to end this violence begins with people who raise awareness. To raise awareness, it is important to meet with the federal and local government to inform them on the issues and convince them to combat sex trafficking. Come up with different fundraisers for battered victims, host awareness events so people become familiar with the issue, and eventually the victims can become educated and well equipped with the proper care they need. Consider working with different organizations that help women who have fallen victims of prostitution, pornography, trafficking and other forms of sexual violence. Work with a religious community that can help raise money for families in poverty. This can decrease the amount of women and children traded for sex. Internationally, we need to become more familiar with, knowledgeable of, and aggressive to end this suffering of dehumanization and advertise what the poor victims have to face on a daily

In the United States, the bishops have been active in the fight against human trafficking due to the policy that is embedded within the Catholic church that teaches it to be negative. The Church works

Over the course of time, the United States Congress has gradually become polarized or partisan. In essence, Congress has been divided into polar sides. I believe the links provided are outdated and the data that needs to be analyzed has been removed. However, Darrell Issa, my representative, is proved to be partisan to the Republican party. According to OnTheIssues, Representative Issa’s stance on abortion(pro life) and gun control (less gun control) mirrors that of the Republican party (OnTheIssues, “Every Political Leader on Every Issue”). Consequently, having a polarized Congress is unhealthy for the government.

The issue of child sex trafficking is difficult to compromise with. When looking at the big picture of child sex trafficking it is taken into account that this is, in fact, a crime. With the consequences and effects this crime has on the children involved the opinion held by many is that it should be stopped immediately. There are current anti-trafficking laws in place to protect victims and children at risk. In 2000 the U.S. Congress passed the “Trafficking Victims Protections Act 2000” and is updated and reauthorized every two years, but TVPA only applies to federal cases tried in federal courts (Californians Against Sexual Exploitation, 2012). With these type of laws children are protected from potentially being trafficked. On the NPR website an interview took place between NPR interviewer Arun

Human trafficking is not right. It is labeled as modern day slavery. This industry is wrong on a moral level, a ethical level, and as a global industry. “Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril.” (William Lloyd Garrison) We were not meant to be treated or treat others this way. Human Trafficking is the sale or trade of a person for the use of sexual exploitation, labor, or organs. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNDOC, 2014) The lack of awareness of human trafficking causes this industry to thrive yet Christian anti trafficking activists are working to eradicate it because it is wrong.

In the past year there has been about 22,000 calls to 911 that were specific to sex trafficking. One of the worst parts of it all, is that there are many police officers and government officials that are in fact participating in sex trafficking activity on a daily basis. Criminals create a relationship with police officers and government officials to make their routes much easier and safer. Criminals will use anyway around the law to make sure they are safe. Criminals target specific females as victims because they are not seen to have value as a human being to many. Females are bigger targets than men because criminals believe they are easier to use in every way possible. Majority of the criminals are men, and believe that females are mentally and physically

It is much more complex, than just sexual exploitation. Robert Neuwirth explains human trafficking has been going on for decades and it is closer to home than you think. Human trafficking is all around: in Sudan, Africa; Beijing, China; Detroit, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; and even Houston, Texas. This issue needs to be talked about and made more aware of it. Like Hernandez stated, Globally, as well as in the United States, women are most often victims of human trafficking followed by children, primarily girls (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime [UNODC], 2006). In the United States, prostitution is the most common form of trafficking. Prostitution is also the most common type of trafficking worldwide. The U.S. Department of State (2008) believes that thousands of children in the United States are trafficked within the borders of the country. Similarly, other countries report incidences of internal or domestic human trafficking, where victims are sold and enslaved in their own

Organizations such as The Ruth House is a resource to not only use for ourselves about especially the victims to reach out for help. Posters, Flyers, and social media post is enough to gain the attention of others to at least introduce the topic to them. It is understood that human sex trafficking is an uncomfortable topic of discussion, but it is crucial for us to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. This is not a movie; this is real life. U.S. Department of State has an article listing 15 ways you can help fight human trafficking. A Few of these are volunteering and support anti trafficking efforts within your community, encourage modern to include modern day slavery in the school curriculum, and work with local religious groups to support and spread awareness. National Human Trafficking awareness day is January 11th. Celebrate it by informing yourself and others, as well as take part in organizations such as rethreaded to help a victim make a

There are many signs of human trafficking. Some signs include anxiousness, fearful or paranoid. Avoids eye contact. Tearfulness or signs of depression. Unexplained bruises or cuts or other signs of physical abuse. Not in control of their own finances. Presents with secrecy or unable to answer questions about where they live. Inconsistent details when telling their story. Has no identification such as a license, passport or other ID documents. Inability to leave their job or residence. Says they cannot schedule appointments. Being a recent arrival to the United States and does not speak English. Is under 18 and providing commercial sex acts? Or at any age unwillingly providing commercial sex acts. Is afraid of law enforcement or receiving help from an outside entity. When you get the chance to talk to them about what they are involved in make sure you ask the following questions. Can you leave your job if you want to? Can you come and go as you please? Have you been hurt or threatened if you tried to leave? Has your family been threatened? Do you live with your employer? Where do you sleep and eat? Are you in debt to your employer? Do you have your passport/identification? Who has it? Do not assume that anyone is involved in being trafficked because some of the signs are very narrow like being anxious anyone can be anxious. Make sure you really think that the person is being trafficked before asking.

The Catholic Church has a pastoral responsibility to promote the human dignity of all those exploited through trafficking and slavery while advocating for their liberation and freedom

Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) in the United States is a topic that is not mentioned very often and many Americans are unaware of how serious of a problem we have with DMST right here in our very own country. I was unaware of the seriousness of sex trafficking until recently when our church had a guest speaker who was a victim. She started being groomed at the age of four for use in sex trafficking. Her father who is a Baptist preacher and her mother was a school teacher are the people that started prepping her for sex trafficking. As a society we need to be more informed and aware of the seriousness of DMST so that we protect our younger generation from this crime.

From that information they make their own assumptions about those that are part of human trafficking or sex trafficking. They tend to blame the victims instead of looking at all the facts and finding other sources to get more information than just one media station. Those that don’t have all of this information do tend to blame the victim instead of looking into those that are forcing the victims to things. Except that human trafficking is more prevalent than we would like to believe here in the United States and in different parts of the world. We as Christians and those who aren’t but are passionate about this topic should also speak out about it. There are so many people in the world today who do not understand everything about human trafficking or even sex trafficking. There are many people who end up being trafficked and most of them are women and children. This happens around the world “globally, one in five victims of human trafficking are children, although, in poorer regions and subregions, such as Africa and Greater Mekong, they make up the majority of trafficked persons. Women meanwhile make up two-thirds of the world’s human trafficking victims,” (IUNODC). This statistic about how many people are trafficked is sad because we are in a country that is developed more so than some of these other countries. We as a nation should be try to come up with some kind of system that can prevent this from happening or even make more information more available to everyone who lives here. This could be done many different ways. One thing that we could do is make the way that we treat those who have been trafficked feel like it is okay for them to come forward instead of making them feel like they are horrible people. Those who are trafficked they may not come forward

To sell and trade human beings to sexually use is an issue the whole world has been dealing with and has had no significant progression towards. We can teach in schools to say ‘NO’ to drugs but you can’t teach a child about the dangers of trafficking, in fact, you can barely address the topic with many adults. It’s not that it is a topic we aren’t concerned about, but it is a hard topic to actually have a good conversation over. In the LDS religion, we have no problem watching a movie about someone recovering from drugs or pornagraphy, but if the Mormon church were to display a mormon message (inspirational videos the LDS church makes) about someone recovering from human trafficking, I believe many would find it too hard to watch. We don’t like the subject and especially here in Utah where we are in a so called “bubble”, it’s hard to imagine that it would happen to us personally. Some may not even want to address it because it’s many times assumed that those who are involved with trafficking are runaways who willingly went into the business. You won’t find very many articles on prostitutes being abused in the newspaper, so why would you find women or men who are being sold as prostitutes forcefully? The world doesn’t like dealing with something that only the police should have to deal with. It’s not really something you want to get into and whether if that

There are hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims in the US. 8042 cases of human trafficking were reported to the National Human Trafficking hotline in the US in 2016, a 35% increase over the previous year (Polaris, 2017). It is shameful how many cases go unnoticed and how many opportunities are lost due to lack of training of healthcare personnel and first responders. The most shocking fact is